Needling machine



.Iuly s, 1930.

NEEDLING HGHINE Filed Dec.` 31, 1927 J. B. ROBERTSON Er A1.

2 Sheets-Sheet 1 llllllllll- INVENTOR ATTO N E Y July 3, 193@ `J. E.ROBERTSON ET AL K 1,770,252

NEEDLING MACHINE Filed Dec. 31. 1927 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 ATTORNEY PatentedJuly y8, 1.930

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

JAMES BAXTER ROBERTSON, OE rATERsoN, ANnG'EoRGE ROBERTSON, or RIDGEWOOD,NEW JERSEY, ASSIGNORS To THE rARATEx CORPORATION, OE 1=ATERsON,\ NEWJERSEY, A CORPORATION OE NEW JERSEYv Y Y NEEDLmGMAcHINE lApplifia'am;mea December s1, 1927. serial No. 243,799.

This invention relates to the' manufacture of textiles such as rugsandparticularly to needling machines for forcing fibers or othermaterial which forms the nap of the rug or other textilev productthrough the material which forms the base material of the rug.

In producing relatively ine nsive rugs having a nap of vegetable ,oranimal ber or Similar materiala layer or bat of brous material cut intoshort lengths is placed upon a long web of the base material. The webAis l then passed through a needling machine where the fibers are forcedthrough the base material by needles having downwardly-ex;

tending barbs which pierce the base material. Stripper bars are provideddirectly above the layer of fibrous material that is beingk wholemachine is continuously and severallyvibrated. 'The rapid succession ofimpacts of the stripping action also tends to set the. stripper bars tovibrating. When small size rugs are made andthe stripper bars are shorttheir vibration is not Serious but with the largerr sizes of rugs Wherethe stripper bars are much longer their vibration often becomes sosevere that the bars move into the path of the needles breaking theneedles and in some instances the 'stripper bars are broken.

One of the objects of the present invention is to provide a needlingmachine that will -permit the manufacture ofrugs of unusual tion ofmovement of the material being needled.

Other important features and objects of .the invention will be apparentfrom the acneedling machine embodying the present invention; y

Figure 2 is a detailed view in section taken on the line 2-2 of Figure1; and

Figure y3 is a plan view of 'the stripper frame positioned at rightangles to that shown in Figure 2.

The present invention as Shown, "consists of a base 1 having a guideway2 in which a. needle frame 3 is designed to reciprocate. The needles 4are carried bythe frame 3 and are positioned closely to ether over theentire surface of the nee e frame except in those portions of the framewhich are directly over the stripper bar supports. The` needle frame maybe reciprocated by any suitable means such as the eccentric 5 drivenfrom a gear 6. Stripper bars 8I are positioned above the web'ofrug-making material and in the embodiment shown extend the full width ofthe machine. These bars may be Solid or' of a light tubular constructionand are secured at the ends in a stripper frame 9 by any suitable meanssuch as the nuts 10 threaded onto the outer ends of the bars.

n the present invention the needling machine is constructed of unusualWidth to accommodate avery wide web of the burlap or other base formingmaterial. For example, when a nine by twelve rug is to be made thelburlap is ordinarily 120 inches in Width and this 1s afterwards'trimmed down to 108 inches. It would be necessary with the type ofstripper frame used heretofore that the stripper bars should be somewhatover 120 inches in length and relatively small in diameter.

' These Stripper barsoperate to remove any liber clinging to the needlesas they are Withdrawn from the web of material forming the base for therug.

rllhe web of burlap forming the base is passed through the needlingmachine 4from thevroller 12 shown in Figure '2 to the roller-v l. Thehat of brous material is carried Figure 1 is a vertical sectional viewof aon the upper surface of the burlap and passes beneath the stripperbars 8 and over the longitudinally-arranged supporting members 15. Inorder to prevent excessive vibration of the stripper bars 8 due to thevibration of the machine solid or tubular supports are proyided for thestripper vbars between-their ends. It is necessary, however, that thesupporting members should not interfere with the needling operation orcause any portion of the rug to pass out of the machine without beingneerdled. In order to overcome this ditficulty and at the same time to-furnish adequate support for the stripper bars. supporting members-16are provided which are positioned obliquely of the stripper bars andobliquely to the direction of movement of the rug-making materialthrough the needling machine. It has been found that stripper bars ofthe length necessary for producing a rug nine feet wide should besupported at several points and in the example cited four such supportsare employed.

l Theneedles in the needle `trame which would engage the supportingmembers` when moved downwardly. are omitted so that as shown in Figure3, the lirst rows of needles 18 operate upon the entire width ot therugmaking material eXcept at those points directly over the supportingmembers. Each succeeding row of needles has a corresponding spacedirectly over the support for the.

stripper bars but in everv instance the gap between the needles is.displaced from the corresponding gap in the preceding and succeeding rowof needles. Thus. as the web of material moves in the direction of thearrow shown in Figure 3, the portion of the material which waspreviously covered by the support 12 and which was not operated on bythe previous row of needles is subjectedrto the..

operation of the succeeding rows of needles so that as the materialpasses out of the ma.- chine every portion of the rug has been subjectedto the necessary needling operation. In this way it is possible tosupport the stripper bars at a suiicient numberof points to preventtheir breaking the needles or otherwise interfering with the operation0I" the machine without leaving a strip of material which has not beensubjected to the necessary amount of needling to furnish a substantiallyuniform product.

The needles, `as shown on the drawing, should be staggered along thedirection of travel of the web and avoid straight rows parallel to thatdirection so that the'web will be uniformly needled and no lanes ofsubstantial width will be left on the web which have not been subjectedto the action of at least some needle.

' What is claimed as new is:

1. In a needling machine for making rugs or similar textile products, aplurality ot' needles for forcing fiber through a web of4 mirantematerial forming a base for the rug, stripper i bars for removing fibersfrom the needles of Said machine as they are Withdrawn lfrom the web,and a support for said stripper bars between the ends of said bars andpositioned obliquely to said stripper bars.

2. In a needling machine for making rugs or similar textile products,means for moving a web of the rug-making material through the machine, aplurality of needles for forcing liber through said web, stripper barsfor removing fiber from said needles as they are withdrawn from the weband a support for said stripper bars between their ends and positionedobliquely to the direction of movement of said web through said machine.v

3. In a needling machine for making rugs, or similar textile products,means for moving a web of the rug-making material through the machine, aplurality of needles for forcing fiber through said web, stripper barsfor removing fiber from said needles as they are withdrawn from the weband a plurality or' supports for said stripper bars between their endsand positioned at an angle to both said stripper rods and the directionof movement of said web through said machine.

ll. In a needling machine for making rugs or similar textile products, aplurality of needles positioned in parallel rows for forcing liberthrough a web of material forming a base for the rug, and a stripper bartrame comprising a plurality of stripper bars parallel tov said rows ofneedles and supporting members for said stripper bars positioned at anoblique angle to said stripper bars.

5. A stripper bar frame for a needling machine comprising parallelstripper bars eX- tending transversely of the direction of movement ofthe web o' material over which said frame is adapted to be mounted andsupports for said bars between the ends 'thereof and 'positioned at anoblique angle to said stripper bars.

6. In a'needling machine for making rugs or similar textile products, aplurality of needles positioned so as to avoid straight rows in adirection parallel to the direction of movement of the web of material,and a stripper frame serving to remove fibers from the needles as theyare withdrawn from the web, and including members serving to reinforcesaid frame extending between said needles in a direction oblique to thedirection of travel of the materlal. I

7. In a needling machine for making rugs or similar textile products, aplurality of needles positioned so as to avoid straight rows in adirection parallel to the direction of movement of the web of material,and a stripper frame serving to remove fibers from the needles as theyare withdrawn 'from the web, and including stripper bars transverse tothe direction of travel of the material and members serving to reinforcesaid frame extending between said needles in a direction oblique to thedirection of travel of the material.

8. In a needling machine for making rugs or similar textile products, aplurality of needles for forcing liber through a lWeb of Vmaterial and astripper bar frame having bars Which serve to remove fibers from 10needles as they are Withdrawn from the web, said frame includingrelatively short bars serving to bear a substantial part of the pressureof the Web against said frame and extending between said needles in adirection 15 obllique to the direction of travel of the materia 9. In/aneedling machinethe combination as defined in claim 6, in Which thestripper bar frame also includes stripper bars trans- 20 verse to thedirection of travel and arranged so as to be supported between theirends by he relatively short and obliquely positioned ars.

Signed at Paterson, N. J., this 15th day of g5 December 1927.

GEORGE ROBERTSON. JAMES B. ROBERTSON.

